A Treacherous Path
by BlackDragon2016
Summary: A fourteen-year-old girl named Brooklyn is about to unexpectedly come face to face with the world of demigods. All goes well... until everything is thrown into chaos and she is marked as a target by her fellow campers. I am just the editor/co author to this story.
1. Chapter 1

A Treacherous Path

Brooke trudged along the sidewalk shouldering her backpack. _Yes summer break is finally here! No more homework,_ she thought to herself happily. Thank god for Friday.

Cars zoomed past beside her on the busy road as she walked home from school. She used to it though, and didn't even notice the noise anymore.

Just then three boys from school passed her. One of them with a red jacket knocked into her shoulder and sent her staggering a few steps. One of the others who had a white baseball hat turned and glared at her as they walked as if it were her fault that she was in the way _. Whatever. It doesn't matter._

About three minutes later and the boys were way ahead of her, jostling and yelling at each other, a bus full of her fellow middle school students sped by. On its way past a few kids pointed at the window, recognizing her, and pointed and laughed, calling her names _. Idiots. They think they're so cool. Thankfully I'm almost home and won't have to deal with this any longer._

Brooke stopped at the crosswalk and pushed the button to cross. _C'mon! This light takes forever! Finally._ The crosswalk light turned white, signaling it was okay to go. Cars stopped at the stoplight that had just turned red. One was blaring rapper music that made her want to throw a rock at the people.

Brooke continued walking for four more minutes and came to a stop at the front door of her house. It was a white one story with two windows that looked onto the front lawn from the living room. It needed a paint job though. She picked up the flowerpot next to the door and unlocked it.

Ah. Yes, wonderful air conditioning. Brooke closed the door and started rummaging through the fridge. She settled on an apple for a snack. She then checked the home phone that was placed on the marble countertop. One voice mail. Brooke listened to the message. It was from her step-mom Sara:

"Hey it's me I just wanted to let you know that me and your father are having our anniversary this weekend and have already left. So if you need anything just call and Mrs. Harvey is across the street. I hope you had a good day at school. Love you," she heard crackling on the other side and laughter, "Bye."

Brooke stared at her apple _. Great, the whole house to myself._

…..Later…..

Brooke turned off the television. There's nothing good on anyways, she thought with a sigh. She glanced at the clock in her room, where it was on a nightstand next to her bed. It read 6:05 p.m. _Huh. What should I do now? I could go to the park. No, Dad would have a fit if he found out I went there by myself. Because even though I'm fourteen I apparently still can't take can't take care of myself. Ugh. Parents._

Brooke looked at her bookshelf, trying to decide what book to read when she heard a quiet snuffling outside her window. Probably a stray dog. No harm in checking though, she reasoned. Brooke peeked through the blinds and immediately jumped back, screaming in alarm. It was definitely not a dog.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Brooke couldn't believe what she was seeing. The creature was huge. About four feet tall while on all fours. It had reddish-brown fur and yellow cat-like eyes, and with a spiked back and horns on its head. _What the heck is that thing!? It sure doesn't resemble any animal I know of!_ Her heart pounding, she thought, _and it definitely doesn't look friendly._ Brooke backed against the wall of the room. The thing seemed to stare at her hungrily.

Suddenly as she was looking a girl snuck up quietly until she was a few feet from the creature and stopped. _What is she doing? Is she trying to take a picture of it or something? Now is not the time for taking profile pictures for Instagram!_

Instead of pulling out her phone or screaming and running like Brooke thought someone of this era would normally do, the girl did something totally different. She pulled out something metal… _a dagger?_

Then with the weapon in her hands the girl charged the beast, who still was immersed with looking through Brooke's bedroom window. _No way. That girl is crazy!_ That thing looked like it could tear her to shreds _. Maybe it's a mutant that escaped a government secret test area._

Seemingly out of nowhere another kid came into view. A boy. Both of the teenagers looked to be around sixteen. Brooke felt frozen in place, like she was witnessing a sci-fi movie.

Suddenly the monster whipped around, apparently noticing it was being stalked by a couple of teens. The monster leaped at the girl, but surprisingly she dodged to the left, and the monster landed on just grass. She then charged the beast. The boy quickly joined in and pulled out a sword that seemed to have just appear in his hands. Brooke blinked several times. _Is this a dream?_

With a thrust of the boy's unarmed hand, the sprinklers in Brooke's front yard busted and water rose from them, seeming to follow the boy's command. _W-what?_ He directed the flow of the water towards the beast. _This is… awesome! And kind of really, really bad. It looks like they might need help,_ Brooke fretted.

Without thinking Brooke ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife out of the silverware drawer, and didn't bother to shut it as she rushed outside by throwing open the front door. Only then did she realized what she was doing. _I'm gonna get myself killed! These people have, like, super powers or something, I don't stand a chance against a weird stray-dog-but-not-thing._ However despite her mind screaming at her to get to safety she joined the fight anyways _. I don't think I can stand by and watch two people get killed. Especially in my own front yard._

The boy glanced at her. "What are you doing!?" he yelled.

"I have no idea!" Brooke yelled back.

"You're going to get yourself killed!" he replied.

"And you aren't?" She retorted, focusing her attention back at the monster, who at that exact time decided to jump at the boy.

The boy, who was distracted, didn't even notice the giant monster until it was too late. He collapsed under the weight of the monster. The girl was just trying to get up off of the ground, apparently having fallen, and didn't notice her partner was being attacked.

Brooke looked around for something to distract the thing. She saw some stones and chucked them at the beast. Surprisingly the rocks didn't miss their mark. The beast turned on her in an instant, its eyes glaring at her. _Oh god no_. It got off the fallen boy and slowly stalked towards her while sniffing the air as if trying to determine how its next meal might taste.

All of a sudden it sprang towards her to attack. The world seemed to slow down for Brooke. Reflexes kicked in and she rolled out of the way. Still gripping her knife tightly in her left hand Brooke ran at the creature. The thing swiped at her with a huge paw but she ducked underneath, surprised at her own agility, and brought the knife up. It hit its mark and the blade sunk in up to its hilt. The monster collapsed limply on top of her.

Brooke pushed the body off of her and scrambled to her feet, her heart pounding. How the heck did I do that!? She took a deep breath and looked around. The girl had gotten up and was checking on the boy, her curly blonde hair cascading down into her face. She seemed to feed him something and he slowly got up, looking dazed. His t-shirt was ripped to shreds and there were some gashes underneath, but it didn't look to bad. Brooke blushed and looked back up to their faces.

"That was a close call Percy!" The girl scolded. The girl glanced at Brooke seeming to notice her for the first time.

Brooke, meanwhile, was in the middle of her yard watching the monster disintegrate leaving a pile of ashes that was promptly blown away by the wind. _What exactly just happened?_

The blonde and Percy walked over. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah I think so." _If you call being attacked by THAT as okay…_

"What's your name?" Percy asked.

"Brooklyn. But you can call me Brooke," she replied, still trying to decide if this was a dream or not.

"Cool. Well, uh, this is Annabeth and-"

"How did you kill that monster?" Annabeth interrupted.

"I have no idea." she said. "I have no idea what's even going on."

Percy seemed to be staring at the knife that Brooke had used. "Hey, that's weird. Annabeth, look at the weapon she used. It's just a normal stainless steel kitchen knife." He said as if she wasn't there. Annabeth examined the knife and then studied Brooke, making her feel uncomfortable.

"You need to come with us." She finally said.

Brooke stepped back a bit _. This stranger wants me to come with her?_ "Whoa, holdup. I just met you. My parents would kill me if I left. For once I agree with them."

"I don't think you understand," Annabeth stated in a serious tone. "Monsters will keep coming after you. The only safe place is at camp."

"Camp?" _What 'camp' would be safe from those creatures? And what does she mean that they'll keep coming back?_

"Camp Half-Blood. One of the only safe places for demigods," Percy pitched in, as if that was supposed to clear anything up. Although Brooke had just met these people, they seemed pretty trustworthy. And plus, she was terrified of the idea of one of the monsters watching her while she slept.

"Alright. I'll get my things."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Demigods. Half human, half god. That's what Annabeth told her. They had just gotten to camp about an hour ago. She was still trying to take this information in. It seemed farfetched that she would be a demigod, not only because it seemed like a plot for Harry Potter, but with Greek stuff, it also seemed strange that she of all people would be tangled in with all of this.

They had just gotten to "camp" an hour ago. They had taken taxi cabs until they had reached a large stretch of wilderness, seeming to rise like a hill. Annabeth had tipped the driver and they had gotten out of the yellow vehicle, shutting the car doors behind them with an audible thump.

"Now, when we get to camp…ignore the weird stuff right now, I swear it will all be explained." Percy commented as they crested what was indeed a big hill. _What weird stuff? Are they selling drugs or something?_ "And don't freak out, or pass out. That's happened a bunch and just makes things difficult."

 _Okay, they must be definitely selling some sort of drug. Smuggling it in some sort of "camp", code word for secret base. What happens if I don't agree to buy their drugs? What will they do to me there?_ The thought made her swallow nervously as she continued trekking with the two teenagers. _He said freaking out made things difficult….oh lord._

Turns out what was waiting was much more surprising and terrifying than she had imagined. Crowds of people, ranging from around twelve to twenty seven. They all wore orange shirts, many of them wearing ripped pants. Some of them seemed to be wearing armor, and they bustled around not really noticing her and her companions at first. Brooke took a deep breath. _Much worse than drugs. People._

They had gone down into the camp which had interesting buildings of a sorts. They had chiseled pillars with designs on them, and reminded her of her class of ancient world history she had taken last year. _What was the empire that had architecture like that? I don't remember…maybe I should've payed more attention in that class._

Unfortunately for Brooke, people started approaching them and speaking in friendly tones to Percy and Annabeth. She mainly stood behind them and let them do the talking, trying to not get noticed.

"Hey Percy!" A girl with bright orange frizzy hair bounded up to him. They talked for a few minutes. Please don't introduce me, please!

"Oh hey Rachel, this is Brooke. She's a newbie and we're taking her to see Chiron." The dark haired teen smiled at Brooke as if he didn't realize that she had just stiffened up.

"Eh hem. We actually have to go its urgent. But we'll speak with you later!" Annabeth called out as she grabbed Brooke's arm and pulled her along quickly before she had to interact with the girl.

"Thank you so much," Brooke responded once they had gotten a safe distance from the orange haired girl.

Annabeth shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes Percy can be such a…seaweed brain." A smile seemed to tug at the corners of the blondes lips

Percy jogged up. "What was that about?" He asked. Annabeth sighed.

"Where are we going now?" I butted in.

"To see Chiron, the camp director," Annabeth responded and grabbed Percy's hand. He smiled at her lovingly. _They are a couple? Didn't see that coming._ (Note the sarcasm).

Then they had visited the big house where Chiron stayed. Annabeth went in to see if he was free at the moment, and came back out to say that he was busy, and would greet Brooke a little later. Percy had parted with his girlfriend, saying he had promised to do something with his friend when they got back. "Oh. And welcome to camp Half Blood!" he called out to her while walking away.

"I'll show you where you can sleep for now until you move into a permanent cabin." Annabeth stated and started walking through more crowds of people. Brooke hurried to catch up, afraid to lose her in the throng of people.

While walking, she suddenly remembered her suspicions from earlier. Brooke stopped in front of the blonde. "Okay. First of all, I don't do weed, crack, or marijuana. I'm not interested in buying any from you or this Chiron. I swear I won't tell anyone about this secret hideout of yours if you let me go! I swear!"

Annabeth stared for a moment, then bust out laughing. She doubled over, clutching her stomach. "Oh gods," she gasped out, "did you think we were trying to sell you drugs?"

Brooke blushed, doubts rising. "Ha ha very funny."

Once she had regained her breath she replied. "No, no. Nothing like that is happening. I told you, this place is safe from monsters."

 _Oh. Right. Monsters_. The whole idea still seemed crazy. "Uh, right. So there is more than one type of monster?"

Annabeth continued walking, Brooke at her side. "Yes. Lots of them. Think of a coral reef, and instead of fish, think of monsters."

Brooke shuddered. Just the thought of them sent fear down her spine. "Then why have I never seen one before today?" _Not that I'm complaining._

"Well, I have a theory for that but I'll have to look into it." She replied.

An urgent thought suddenly popped into her head. "Wait a minute, how had Percy controlled water? I wasn't imagining that right?" Brooke had pushed that observation to the back of her mind while facing the monster, but now it resurfaced and she felt ludacris for asking. Of course he didn't control that water, she mentally scolded herself. Cringing, she turned to Annabeth, hoping she didn't think she was a complete idiot.

"Actually…."

And that was how she found out about demigods. Brooke felt like everything was turned upside down, the world finally exposing its true form.

Now she was sitting on the edge of a bottom bunk bed in the Hades cabin. It was empty currently, only having one other occupant apparently. She had yet to meet him, but Annabeth had said his name was Nico. She had also said that Brooke had to stay in this cabin, because the one they usually let 'unclaimed' people stay in was currently filled with 'visitors'.

Brooke recounted to herself the events today. _Earlier I was in my house….what a long day. I don't even have words to describe this place yet. I just hope it won't be the death of me._

Suddenly the sound of a door creaking snapped Brooke out of her thoughts. She turned her head to see a boy about her age enter. He had black hair that hung in his face with dark eyes to match. He had an aviator's jacket with a black sword strapped to his chain belt.

His eyes met hers. Brooke had keep herself from gasping at the slightly haunted look in his eyes. _What has he been through?_

"Uh, are you the kid who stays here?" She inquired, slightly awkwardly. He nodded. "Oh, well sorry I have to stay here, I heard and get that you like to be alone. I mean, I don't want to-"

"It's fine" he cut her off, moving to his stuff that was piled up on a bottom bunk on the other side of the room. _Oh. Okay._

They sat in silence as he dug around his dark brown back pack that was on his bed. _Um. Umm. What do I say? Oh dear god I'm awkward. Oh. Maybe 'gods' now._

As if on cue, Percy walked through the door. "Hey. Brooke, Chiron's ready to see you." He turned to Nico. "Hey. How was the mission?"

Nico shrugged, not turning around. "Fine."

Brooke stood up and with a backwards glance at Nico, who was still engrossed in whatever was in his bag, and exited the cabin behind Percy. "So what's this Chiron guy like?" she asked as they started walking again. This time Brooke took more time to look around her, noting the fields of grapes and wilderness at the edge of the buildings. _It is beautiful here._

"Well he's a centaur." Percy replied as he waved at a tanned girl who noticed him and waved back.

"What?"

"You know, half man, half horse." _Great. There are other beings besides monsters and gods. How in the world am I supposed to keep track of them all?_

"Yeah I know what a centaur is. I just thought that maybe a god or demigod ran the place." _I definitely didn't expect a horse man to._

Percy laughed a bit. "Yeah, trust me though, you do **not** want a god running this place. It's happened before."

Brooke thought about asking, but thought better of it. _Besides,_ she reminded herself, _I'll be going home soon anyways._

But she couldn't keep some of her curiosity at bay. "So what do you guys normally do here?" If she was being honest with herself, she found these people fascinating. Like her favorite bad A characters from a book had come to life.

Percy thought to himself for a moment. "We mostly train to fight and use the powers we inherit from our parents. A lot of the times we play capture the flag in the woods."

"Capture the flag?" Brooke asked incredulously _. Such a normal thing to do….well I guess they are people. I suppose I'm grouped in with them now too._

"Yeah but we play it while fighting each other, kind of as if it were a war. And by the way when you're done with Chiron you're going to need a weapon." He added as they reached the building.


End file.
